Lake Mead's chilling barrel discovery gets new answers as officials identify homicide victim
The discovery came as Lake Mead was experiencing historically low water levels amid a prolonged drought across the western U.S.
FILE: Human remains found in barrel at Lake Mead amid low water levels
Skeletal remains have been found in a barrel at Lake Mead as water levels drop to their lowest since 1937. (Video: KVVU)
THE TAKEAWAY
- A suspected homicide victim's identity was announced on Thursday.
- His body was found stuffed inside a barrel in 2022.
- The remains belong to Edward Jackson, who died from a gunshot wound.
After four years, Las Vegas authorities have identified the remains of a suspected homicide victim discovered in Lake Mead in 2022.
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Clark County Coroner Melanie Rouse announced Thursday that the remains belong to Edward Jackson, who died from a gunshot wound. He is believed to have been in his mid-to-late 50s at the time of his death.
A rusted metal barrel, near the location of where a different barrel was found containing a human body, sits exposed on shore during low water levels due to the western drought at the Lake Mead Marina on the Colorado River in Boulder City, Nevada on May 5, 2022. A worsening drought has revealed a four-decade-old body dumped in Lake Mead, police said May 2, 2022, warning that falling water levels would lead to the uncovering of more corpses. Boaters on Lake Mead near Las Vegas discovered a corroded barrel with its sinister contents during a weekend pleasure trip. (Photo by Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Las Vegas Police Lt. Robert Price, Jackson was originally from Arkansas and traveled to various parts of the country during his adult life.
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"Edward was last seen visiting [his family] in Arkansas in the early 80s, which aligns with our belief that the homicide occurred sometime in the early 80s," Price said during a press conference.
Visitors launch boats from a ramp extended multiple times as a result of worsening low water levels due to the western drought at the Lake Mead Marina on the Colorado River in Boulder City, Nevada on May 5, 2022.
(PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty Images)
Law enforcement officials said Jackson had no known ties to Las Vegas. However, investigators found records indicating he had lived in California and Utah, where he had a criminal history.
There had also been speculation that the homicide was connected to organized crime, but Price said investigators had found no information to support those theories.
A worsening drought has revealed a four-decade-old body dumped in Lake Mead, police said May 2, 2022, warning that falling water levels would lead to the uncovering of more corpses.
(Patrick T. FALLON / Getty Images)
Jackson’s body was discovered inside a barrel by a group of boaters at Lake Mead’s Hemenway Harbor on May 1, 2022.
The discovery came as Lake Mead was experiencing historically low water levels amid a prolonged drought across the western U.S.
FOX Weather spoke with Bronson Mack of the Southern Nevada Water Authority about the drought at the time. Mack said Lake Mead’s water levels had fallen by about 150 feet over the previous two decades.
A man walks on a finger of exposed land at Lake Mead reservoir during the drought on July 9, 2022 in Boulder City, Nevada.
(Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"It’s a significant decline that we have seen in the levels of Lake Mead," Mack said.
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Mack said the dramatic decline in Lake Mead’s water levels prompted drastic conservation measures in 2022, helping reduce water demand by 26%.
"Today, Southern Nevada supplies more people with less water than we did two decades ago, but conservation continues to be key for the entire Colorado River users," Mack said.